Edward Tufte sounds like Gene Simmons

I watched Edward Tufte’s “Interface design and the iPhone” video and something about his voice sounded really familiar. Then it hit me: Compare it to Gene Simmons’ voice (his audio from that infamous interview he did with Terry Gross on NPR). They even strike a similar pose when, um, presenting information.

...and do you ever notice how Edward Tufte and Gene Simmons are never in the same room together…

Jamie

on 29 Jan 08

I enjoyed his video, but the idea for the weather map was ludicrous. People want to know “will it rain today” as quickly as possible. They don’t want to spend hours trying to interpret looping radar images.

He is a true show-man. I remember hearing him speak in Boston in 1999. He really put on a good show to a room full of typographers and type designers, some of whom were very skeptical of him. He put under the chair of every delegate an A3 print of the Russian campaign map, which was a great gesture. I still have mine.

I don’t agree with plenty of his views but he does put on a good show.

Jamie

on 29 Jan 08

@Joga, because the information that most people want was shrunken and given just one quarter of the screen, making it harder to read – concept or not.

I’m not saying that more information can’t be put onto the Weather widget, but not to the degree in which Tufte suggests.

@ Jaime : I disagree. It would still just as easy to read weather it will rain or not is still represented by a visual icon, that is both color and shape encoded for quick visual recognition.

None of this of course takes into account any interactivity, potential user customization, or refinement of the design, we’re merely discussing the static screen that was created as a first draft mock up for a proof.

Jamie

on 30 Jan 08

I think you are missing something – tufte squeezed the 5 day forcast into just one corner of the screen. Not just todays weather.

and then the looping radar images take up half the screen – entirely the wrong way round for most users. Who apart from seasoned weather forecasters can interpret wind formations and patterns over time? there is no doubt that it provides “detail”, but just not for the right audience.

Matt

on 30 Jan 08

This question may sound flip, but is not meant to be—does Tufte do any research (usability) on the things that he designs? Per Jamie’s point, who’s the iPhone designed for and what do the need it to do?

Lee Honeycutt

on 03 Feb 08

Edward Tufte doesn’t have much room to talk about interface design. He’s a wonderful theorist of information design, but not much of a practitioner. His own website is horribly designed and almost impossible to navigate. Instead of critiquing the interface of others, he should evaluate and improve his own.

http://www.edwardtufte.com

This discussion is closed.

About Matt Linderman

Now: The creator of Vooza, "the Spinal Tap of startups." Previously: Employee #1 at 37signals and co-author of the books Rework and Getting Real.